Preview: Prey 2

If there’s one game on the tongues of many gamers, it’s Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls: Skyrim. That’s fine and all, but I’m far more excited about a different title. Prey 2 ended up being a refreshing surprise for me when I was at E3. I often find Bethesda games to be derivative, but this game looks like it may just be the game from Bethesda that I was looking for. I missed the first Prey, but I’m thinking I shouldn’t miss this intriguing title.

Prey 2 is a first-person shooter bounty hunting game, and its setting really seems to be the selling point for me as of yet. It looks like a cross between what Star Wars: Bounty Hunter should have been and Mass Effect’s Omega. The setting was described to me as “steampunk noir”, and if that doesn’t intrigue, I don’t know what will. I’m told that the world shown is merely one of five others.

Said to be largely inspired by Blade Runner

The setting of Prey 2 is completely open, as well. Prey 2 boasts a non-linear narrative in which players not only choose how to complete missions, but they may also choose whether or not they’d like to do the mission at all. Missions can be completed as fetch quests, dead or alives, and much more. If the player’s objective is to capture a bounty, they can even choose to extort their target and play the other side for maybe a higher price.

This seems to be the makings of a very open and engaging experience. The world really seems to come to life in the nuances of the player’s actions and relationships. The bounties the player chooses to accept and the results of such bounties greatly affect the player’s reputation as Killian Samuels. All of this does attribute to a greater narrative that is said to mold to the player’s experience.

The gameplay looks absolutely fantastic. Coined as “agile combat”, Prey 2 is a first person shooter with some parkour like mechanics. Running, climbing, dodging and melee combat make for what looks like a very fluid experience. Some great gadgets seem to tie things all together, with a visor that sees enemies through walls, electric bolus, capture portals and more.

Between Human Head and Bethesda, it looks like Prey 2 may be the exciting new title I was looking for. The game looks masterfully executed, and they’re just focusing on an amazing single player experience, where every other FPS is overly focused on multiplayer. I’m excited to start interrogating badies, extort some mobsters, and collect some cred.